Beginning with ACS 11.0, you can track pledges and gifts by post date rather than year. Tracking gifts and pledges by a date range lets you track pledges for date ranges less than a year (such as a 6 month pledge) or pledges that span multiple years. When you generate Contributions reports and statements, you can specify these date ranges rather than selecting year, allowing reports to better fit your needs.

The first time you enter transactions after loading 11.0, you'll notice that your transactions have been converted to batches, and you must create a batch before adding transactions.

Batches simplify entering and posting transactions because you no longer have to post a batch immediately after entering it. You can enter all batches at once, including batches with different post dates. You can select each batch included in the deposit and post one deposit to Contributions. If interfaced, you can also post the deposit to General Ledger when posting to Contributions.

For example, you need to make two deposits, each of which contain two batches of transactions. You can enter transactions for all four batches, assigning the appropriate post date and batch number to each batch. Then, you can select the batches to include when posting both deposits and printing the Proof List, Fund Total Recap, Weekly Register, and Deposit Ticket Listing.

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When you add a batch, you can include a description, post date, and expected amount, allowing you to better track contributions and making it easier to reconcile the expected amount and actual amount. You can also associate a service time to your batch, which lets you track how much money comes in for regular or special services.

If you need to edit, return, void, or review entered or posted transactions, you can easily locate the transaction using the Contributions Filter. This advanced filter lets you locate gifts by contributor, batch information, transaction type, payment type, status, reference number, amount, gift date, or transaction comment or value.

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If you void a transaction for a gift accidentally posted to the wrong contributor or for the wrong amount, ACS automatically marks the transaction as void. If interfaced with the General Ledger, a reversing entry automatically posts when you void a transaction. In addition, you can search for voided transactions in the Contributions Filter and print a Void Report in Contributions List Reports.

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When you add gifts, you can now assign a payment type of ACH, Cash, Check Card, Credit Card, or Online to the gift, and you can see accurate payment type totals on the Proof List. In addition, when adding credit card or online gifts, you can select a gift date to easily track the actual date a transaction took place.

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The new Giving Range Report lets you track contributors and gift amounts within your organization- for example, how many individuals gave over $5,000 in a month or over $10,000 a year. Before running the report, select the specified dollar amounts and date range to display.

We've replaced year-end closing with a new feature for summarizing contributions data. This creates a summary transaction that displays the fund the contributor gave to, the amount given, and the pledge status, and deletes all individual transactions for that year. Summarizing transactions improves ACS performance, because these summarized transactions purge detail, making inquires, statements, and reports faster. You can summarize Contributions data at any time of the year.

The ACS Technologies Online Training Library contains several how-to videos to help you use ACS Contributions.

To watch the videos, you must log into the ACS Client Portal with your e-mail address, site number, and PIN.

You can contact our Support department for assistance with upgrade issues. ACS Support is available Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. You can contact ACS Support by telephone at 1-800-669-2509.

When calling support, please follow the instructions on the automated attendant carefully, so we can then send your question to the appropriate support analyst.